Football important for national identity

French national football player Thierry Henry set up the decisive goal in the World Cup qualifier between France and Ireland with his hand. The business paper Les Echos looks at the significance of football in forming a nation's identity. "At a time when France is questioning its national identity, one has to say that sport in general - and football in particular because of its popularity - have become the main, perhaps the sole, mirror of national identity. The grandeur of a nation is often described in relation to its sporting activities, rather than its economic, cultural or intellectual achievements. ... One major problem however is the relative inability to control the negative elements in sport. And another is ... the way sport is used to glorify patriotic sentiment."

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